


On the border upon dishonesty

by maeusetod



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, M/M, Misunderstandings, Protective Alec Lightwood, Traditional Medicin!Magnus Bane, Valentine is still the bad guy, lawyer!Raphael Santiago, musician!Simon Lewis, plastic surgeon!isabelle lightwood, surgeon!Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:18:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12294120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maeusetod/pseuds/maeusetod
Summary: Five times Jace appeared out of nowhere and one time he disappeared.When Magnus Bane finds a naked man lying in his and his boyfriend’s bedroom, he is at a loss how toreact. Everything gets worse when Alec tries to assure him everything is fine, holding an IV-bag in one hand and bandages in the other and telling him to leave the apartment.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: confusing timeline and author who has only a faint idea where this story is going and  
> medical inaccuracies everywhere.

06:34 pm

It had been an exhausting day and the only thing that kept Magnus alive was the knowledge that Alexander was already home waiting for him. As he walked towards the apartment door, he wondered what had driven him to wear his black boots with the golden studs, knowing perfectly well they were not the most comfortable ones and he would be on his feet the whole day. Yes they were matching his jacket quite fabulously, but he wondered if it was worth it. Nevertheless, the thought of a welcome-home peck and one of alexander's home-cooked meals going cold had him walking faster. He was over half an hour late having to argue with an overly stressed housewife that you indeed felt some pain, while someone was sticking needles into your skin and that he had no intentions of killing her whatsoever.

As he entered the apartment, he immediately noticed something was off. At first he couldn’t tell why but then Magnus noted that it was strangely quiet. Neither was the TV running nor was any music playing, and Alec had grown fond of Magnus' enormous music collection since they moved in together.

“Alexander?” he asked the empty apartment, but no one answered him.

He went further inside and saw black boots carelessly lying around near the entrance. They were clearly not Alexander’s, since the tips where covered in mud and they seemed at least two numbers to small. He took off his own shoes, putting them in the empty spot in the cupboard. Then he considered for a moment what to do with the foreign ones and decided to at least put them aside so no one would stumble entering the apartment. The next thing out of the ordinary was a black leather jacket lying on the floor. This could belong to Alexander but the shoes he saw indicated otherwise. A crumbled black shirt near the bedroom door was the next piece of clothing forming a trail towards the open bedroom door.

“Alexander, dear?” Magnus called out again, still receiving no answer.

The thumb of his right hand was moving along of the tips of his fingers as he carefully entered the bedroom. More black clothing was lying carelessly on the dark carpet next to the bed. But his eyes only lingered there for a moment, because a man he had never seen before was sleeping in his bed. The blanket only covering up to his waist, Magnus could see that his shirtless torso was covered in dark tattoos; some of them resembled Alexander’s tattoos in style and size. For the first few dates he had only seen Alexander in dress shirts, so when the time came and Alexander let him open the buttons, he was pleasantly surprised to see the dark symbols covering his stomach. The last person he had expected to be inked was top surgeon Alexander Lightwood, but it just stirred his already existing interest even more. The blond stranger had even more tattoos, but the more Magnus compared them the more he was sure that at least one was exactly the same in size, style and location. Alexander had never talked about the time when he decided to get them done and the meaning that was clearly behind those strange patterns on his skin. The same patterns that where covering part of the stranger’s body. This man was clearly not some stranger to Alexander, and Magnus could only wonder why Alexander never bothered to mention him, even if Magnus had told him of every former lover without the slightest hesitation. The feeling of irritation and confusion was replaced by something more unpleasant.

The stranger stirred in his sleep, but did not wake. Magnus only now noticed that he was sweat covered and had some bruises on his lower stomach as well as old scars covering parts that were not inked. His longish blond hair covered part of his face, still sharp cheekbones and plum lips could be seen. He was not Magnus type but he had to admit the man would be considered attractive and could not stop thinking about what Alexander saw in someone so different from himself. Magnus knew he should not jump into conclusions without having talked to him, but his thoughts would simply not stop. Alexander had told him he had never been with anyone before. He remembered Alexander’s nervousness, his shy voice as he had told him. Magnus had made his fair amount of wrong decisions with men and women alike, but he had never thought once he had made the wrong decision trusting Alexander Lightwood.

“Magnus, you’re home,” a voice from behind startled him. Alexander was standing behind him. He was wearing his dark jacket and the light grey scarf Magnus had bought him once simply because he thought Alexander would look good in it. In one hand he was holding an IV-bag in the other some bandages. This could only mean the stranger was hurt and it all was not what it looked like. Magnus felt himself relax a little bit, but he was still confused about the situation. Alexander could have easily brought him to the guest room. It would have even been the shorter way and yet he hadn’t.

“Darling, why is there a stranger in our bedroom?” he asked, his hand pointing towards the bed. In hindsight Alexander hadn’t sounded pleased when he stated that Magnus was home.

“I can explain…I…actually I can’t,” Alexander rambled.

“There is a naked man sleeping in our bed, I think I deserve an explanation on who he is and how he got there considering I intended to sleep in this bed in a few hours, which now I don’t feel like doing anymore,” Magnus stated and watched how Alexanders posture stiffened.

Alexander’s eyes shifted towards the man on the bed and then back towards Magnus. Magnus noticed Alexander’s fast breathing and the twitching of his body and it almost seemed that Alexander might be seriously afraid of something.

“Is everything okay?” Magnus asked concerned.

“Everything is fine, but you have to go now,” Alexander answered hushed as he noticed the sleeping man stirring again.

“Go?” Magnus asked perplexed.

“Yes, …please,” Alexander begged. He watched Alexander, as he put the IV-bag and the bandages on the nightstand, then went back to him and put his hand on Magnus arm, almost dragging him out of the bedroom. He carefully closed the door behind him.

“This is our apartment, if someone should go wouldn’t it be him,” Magnus answered pointing to the now closed door.

“Magnus please go, now,” Alexander stated again, his voice commanding and his posture stiff. Magnus knew this side of Alexander, but he never saw it at home. This was Doctor Lightwood speaking. He had watched some of Alexanders most complicated operations. He had seen this side of him, taking control of the situation, of the moment, telling everybody else what to do. But his side of him didn’t belong into their home. 

“Sleeping beauty in there, who is he?” Magnus asked, his voice now raised.

“I can’t tell you,” Alexander answered, voice still stoic.

“Maybe he will,” Magnus said and took a step towards the door.

“No, please, let him sleep,” Alexander intervened, his voice now pleading. His actions were confusing Magnus. Who was that man that could led to such drastic changes in Alexander’s behaviour? He was now blocking the entrance with his body. The stranger was clearly not a fling, because Alexander wouldn’t react the way he did, he wouldn’t get all protective over some random guy he hooked up with - not that Magnus could fully believe Alexander was even capable of doing something like this. Magnus suddenly remembered the IV-bag and the bandages that were still lying on the nightstand unused.

“Is he injured? If so, Alexander, you know I can help,” Magnus tried to reason with him.

“Yes, but this is not a condition you could help with,” Alexander answered.

Magnus had been told on numerous times throughout his career that he wasn’t a real doctor. That what he did was hocus-pocus, that he was only scamming people of their money. He had been told that his doctor title was a fake, that what he did had nothing to do with medicine and more with magic. Alexander had always been different. He treated Magnus on an equal footing, he respected what he did, or so he had thought. If it was anybody else Magnus would have dismissed those words, but Alexander wasn’t just anyone, not for a long time now.

Magnus turned around, put his shoes back on and left the apartment. As the door closed behind him, he wondered where to go.

 

06:21pm

The moment Alec thought about whether or not he should call Magnus and ask him if he could grab some Chinese on the way it was knocking on the door. A little startled why Magnus was a) way too early, and b) not using his keys or at least ringing the bell Alec turned off the TV and went to open the door. Maybe he had misheard and it was just Chairman Meow knocking something over. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had mistaken the cat’s antics for a knock on the door. Not this time though, there was clearly someone at the door, knocking a little louder than before.

“Magnus you’re home earl…,” Alec started, but it was not Magnus greeting him at the other side of the door.

“By the Angel, Jace!” Alec called out. He hadn’t seen his brother for almost two years now, but his look hadn’t changed much. His light hair seemed to be a bit longer and was falling down his face instead of being combed back and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. Jace entered the apartment as if it belonged to him, even if he had never been there before. Alec wondered where he got the address from before he caught himself, remembering that being a detective figuring out addresses would probably not be all too hard for Jace.

Jace put off his boots, leaving them in the middle of the hallway. Alec shook his head and wanted to store them away when he noticed the staggering in Jace walk and just left them.

“Are you alright?” Alec asked him concerned.

“Yeah, I just need you to patch me up so that I can go back,” Jace answered, taking off his jacket.

“You have to go back?” Alec exclaimed shocked, grabbing the leather jacket from Jace. Jace took another step towards the living room but stumbled. Alec let the jacket fall and caught Jace instead.

“Are you hurt?” Alec questioned him, while putting an arm around Jace to help him stand. He noticed how his breathing was laboured and his body felt warm.

“Talk to me, what is hurting you?” Alec tried again.

“I’m okay Alec, I just need some rest,” Jace tried to sooth him but failed miserably. Alec knew Jace was hurting, with Jace being prone to trouble it wasn’t the first time Alec had to patch him up since Jace began living with the Lightwood family and not having seen Jace for so long made Alec even more attentive. 

“What happened?” Alec asked him, studying him further and noticing his stomach seemed to be in pain.

“Just took a beating, nothing new,” Jace said and Alec could see the pain in his face. He knew Jace, and he knew how much pain Jace could stand, so it had to have been one hell of a beating to get him into the condition he was in now. Alec wanted to know what had happened and why Jace had to go back again, but he knew it had to wait until Jace was feeling better.

“I have to check if your rips are broken,” Alec told him leading him towards the bedroom because Jace needed to lie down, but instead of following him Jace started to struggle taking his shirt off.

“What are you doing? Wait let me help,” Alec said and helped Jace out of his shirt and threw it on the ground to deal with it later.

“Now you can check my rips,” Jace said his voice slurry and slow and it was only then that Alec noticed Jace’s unfocused and blurry eyes which indicated that he was on something.

“Jace, you should have gone to the hospital,” Alec told him while trying again to get him into the bedroom to lie down.

“No hospitals, Alec. No one can know. I have to go back,” Jace said with as much force behind his voice as he could muster, which wasn’t much.

“Okay, no hospitals,” Alec reassured him and helped him carefully on the bed. He started checking Jace's vital signs and then feeling his stomach to check if the beating had caused any serious injuries that had to be treated in a hospital. Contrary to what Alec had just told Jace he would not let him stay here if his life was in danger but call for an ambulance immediately. Since his mum was still head of the hospital they could figure something out to keep things quiet afterwards. After a few grunts and mumbled words Jace fell asleep, even though Alec was still poking on his stomach. He must have been utterly exhausted. Alec felt bad that a part of him wanted to find something, wanted to have Jace admitted to the hospital where he knew Jace would be save instead of having to go back to that monster of a human being. He needed Jace, he wanted to have him by his side like when they grew up. Since Jace had started living with his family the two of them had done everything together, Jace had even enrolled to the same university to study medicine together, even when both of them knew he was not made for this job and dreamed of something else. It had been Alec who had told him to do his own thing, to go separate paths, but if he had known were this path would lead Jace, he wished he had never said those words.

Jace seemed to be fine; some mayor bruises, some pulled muscles but nothing that wouldn’t heal on his own, and whatever was in his system would hopefully be gone after a night’s sleep. He watched Jace's even breathing for a while, content having his brother back and knowing he was okay before he went to grab some bandages and an IV-bag Alec had stored in his doctor’s kit in his car.

 

07:12pm

Raphael said nothing as he let Magnus in, but he had the question written all over his face. Magnus ignored him. Raphael had been to his apartment countless times unannounced, especially during the time where Raphael had filed a lawsuit against his own senior partner Camille Belcourt, so he ignored him and went inside.

Magnus was a bit surprised seeing Raphael in comfortable clothing, the white t-shirt contrasting his olive skin, because he was the type of person to be overdressed no matter the occasion. He had always imagined Raphael sitting on his couch, wearing one of his expensive black shirts, Izzy lying against him in a stunning red dress, both of them drinking red wine listening to soft jazz. The contrast couldn’t be stronger. Izzy greeted him, her long hair in a bun, wearing grey sweatpants and a black top, no make-up on eating yoghurt while some cheesy romance movie was playing on TV. 

“Magnus!” Izzy shouted. At least one person was pleased seeing him today.

“Isabelle, lovely seeing you,” Magnus greeted and took a seat on one of the sofas.

“Why are you here?” Raphael asked him, sitting down next to Isabelle.

“I was thrown out of the apartment,” Magnus explained.

“By whom?” Isabelle asked.

“Who else is living there?” Magnus asked eyebrows raised.

“Alec? Why would he do that? Oh, he is planning something for you,” Isabelle guessed.

“Sadly that is not the case,” Magnus answered her.

“You fought with Alec,” Raphael now tried his luck on guessing, too, while lowering the volume on the TV, so they could talk more easily. 

“I didn’t even get the chance to properly argue with him, he just wanted me gone,” Magnus explained, looking at his hands as the continued playing with the rings on his finger.

“Magnus, you have to admit, that doesn’t sound like something my brother would do,” Isabelle said.

“Don’t I know? I have no idea what is going on with him. I went home and found a stranger in our bedroom,” he told them. Isabelle’s eyes widened at the statement.

“He cheated on you and then threw you out of your own apartment, that takes some guts,” Raphael commented, earning a slap on his thigh from Isabelle.

“There has to be an explanation. My brother wouldn’t do that,” Isabelle tried to reassure Magnus.

“What did he tell you?” she asked.

“Nothing. He told me he can’t say anything. That I had to leave. It was as if he was suddenly part of a big conspiracy,” he explained. Nobody said anything for a while, as everyone tried to figure out what to do with the information.

“What did he look like, the stranger in the bed?” Isabelle suddenly asked, now being glared at by both Magnus and Raphael.

“Magnus, what did he look like?” she asked again, this time more urgently.

“Blond, well build, heavily tattooed,…,”Magnus couldn’t even finfish the description, because Isabelle stood up, rushed towards the door, put on a jacket and boots in a rush, and left the apartment before one of them had the time to form a question. As the door snapped shut both of them looked at each other in sheer incredibility of the situation.

“It seemed both Lightwoods left us for the same blond man,” Magnus stated resigned, while he watched Rafael filling two glasses with the expensive bourbon and handed him one.

“And here I was thinking the Lightwoods had taste,” Raphael replied. Magnus raised his glass and they touched glasses, because there was nothing else left to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only logical conclusion was that Magnus Bane should hate the blond stranger who took Alec away from him, but it was pretty hard now that he was standing in front of him, an unconscious girl in him arms, begging Magnus to save her.

03:37pm

“Why am I here?” Raphael asked after staring a solid five minutes at the Chinese dish in front of him making no intentions to try it. Instead he leant back on the red back seat of the seating area. 

“Don’t you like Chinese?” the man opposite of him asked, his own dish almost finished. At first he wondered why Luke Garroway would ask him to meet up at such a remote location but he seemed to know everyone from the employees to the people enjoying their meals. After the sudden appearance of Magnus yesterday, getting a call from Luke today seemed a strange coincidence. He wondered what was happening, that made everyone interfering with his routine at the moment.

“Luke, I have work to do,” Raphael answered trying to sound annoyed when in reality he was now mildly curious on what had compelled the detective to choose a place where he felt secure. Whatever it was, it had to be important.

“I need you to build a case,” he said, putting the chopsticks down.

“Great, more work”, Raphael replied but his head started running.

“This won’t be like other cases; I need you to be careful with this one,” Luke told him leaning forward, voice almost a whisper.

“Who is it?” Raphael asked, aware it had to be serious. He had known Luke Garroway for some time now, working with him on a few cases, and the detective wasn’t someone to be easily intimidated.

“Valentine Morgenstern,” Luke spoke the name and leaned back again, apparently having told everything he needed to. Raphael gleamed at him, his anger rising.

“No can do,” Raphael retorted emphasizing every word. Nobody dared to file a lawsuit against Valentine Morgenstern, not after the disaster that happened last time. The man had connections everywhere. Even if someone was bold enough, it was impossible to get hard evidence against his actions. Nobody knew where he operated from or who his followers were. Nobody even knew what kind of drugs he dealt with.

“It would be a suicide mission, and I’m not even talking about my career,” Raphael tried to reason with him.

“You’re the only one I can trust,” Luke said.

“I’m the only one you think would be crazy enough to actually do it,” Raphael replied.

“I know I ask you for a lot here, but this time we can put him behind bars,” Luke told him, his voice serious.

“There will never be enough evidence. This man has influence everywhere and nobody has heard of him for years. Maybe he isn’t even active anymore. Why can’t you let it rest?” Raphael asked him.

“It’s personal. I raised his daughter,” Luke answered.

“You..what?” Raphael did not want to believe what he was hearing right now but he knew it had to be true. The detective had always been obsessed to catch Valentine Morgenstern to a point where it almost cost him his career.

“Let’s say I had a death wish or I would already be dead and I took the case, do you really think you have enough evidence to win this case?” Raphael asked him.

“Soon I will have all the evidence we need,” Luke confirmed. Raphael then noticed how Luke began to scan the surroundings. Apparently he was pleased with what he saw as he began speaking again.  
“I have someone on the inside,” he said.

“That’s your great plan?” Raphael asked shaking his head.

“After what happened last time you should know that Valentine might be more of a monster than he is a man but he is clever and he only surrounds himself with people who are one hundred percent loyal towards him. Whoever you have inside won’t survive,” he continued.

“And yet he stayed at Valentines side for almost two years now,” Luke retaliated.

“Then Valentine knows he is a cop,” Raphael tried to reason. He knew Luke and how much he wanted to finally see the man behind bars, he knew he was the one who arrested him the last time he went on trial and he also knew the world would be a safer place without Valentine running free but the last time they had a whole task force running the case, lots of documents and paperwork, and lost the case nevertheless. He just couldn’t see how it should be possible this time, even if they had some inside information.

“Valentine knows he is a cop, or at least that he was a cop before he joined him,” Luke said. Now was the moment where Raphael just wanted to leave. He knew it would be inconvenient to be on Luke’s bad side so he suppressed the urge to just stand up and leave the restaurant.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Raphael hissed. Not only was Luke wasting his time, he was also risking the life of another police officer. Not that Raphael was particularly fond of police officers, him and them just didn’t seem to get along. Luke seemed to be the only one whose presence he could bear. He thought Luke would know better than throwing someone to the wolves like that.

“Listen, it was all part of the plan. We knew Valentine would find out he was a cop sooner or later, so we decided to play with open cards and he told him he was a cop from the start,” Luke informed him.

“And now, how far does Valentine trust him?” Raphael asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard a word from him. If he talked to me or any other police officer Valentine would find out. So we made the plan that he tries to join Valentine, earn his trust and exactly two years later we would meet again with all the information he could gather,” Luke said.

“So you know nothing. Do you even know he is still alive?” Raphael asked wondering if the answer would even matter.

“I trust him, if someone can do it, it’s him,” Luke said but Raphael didn’t even care. He was all for stopping Valentine but Luke’s idea was doomed to fail. Valentine would not be stupid enough to trust a cop and even if he did, it would still not be enough to take him down. Luke was running on emotions with this case and it would get him nowhere. It was not Raphael’s place to talk some sense into him so the only thing he could do was play along and hope for the best.

“If your super-cop returns from Valentin’s clutches and appears again, call me and I will help you, until then adios,” Raphael said and stood up. He had better things to do, like finding out where Izzy disappeared to yesterday and why he could only reach her mailbox. He put some bills on the table, not waiting for the waitress to get the bill, and left the restaurant. He dialled Izzy's number again but nobody answered so he got into his car and drove to her clinic. There was a far more important conversation waiting for him.

  


03:37pm – two years earlier

_“Honestly, why did you come with us?” Alec asked Jace._

_“Can't I spend time with my siblings?” Jace asked back putting an arm around Izzy. It was still a mystery to Alec how Jace got a place in the continuing medical education program that he and Izzy decided to go to. ___

____

_“Jace, the three of us live in the same apartment, how much more time could you possibly want to spent with us?” Alec tried once more. ___

____

____

_Alec saw that Jace's posture changed. It was only for a second and then the old confident Jace was back but it was enough for Alec to notice. He knew that Jace needed them, that family was important to him. Alec normally knew better than to ask Jace a question like that._

_“Okay, okay you got me”, Jace replied._

_“What is it then?” Izzy asked this time._

_“Nurses”, Jace whispered._

_“You’re impossible”, Alec said shaking his head laughing but knowing that it wasn't the whole truth and as always with Jace it would take month or more to find out what was really going on in his mind._

_Alec looked around the foyer. He wasn’t surprised that all eyes were on them. Well, more on Izzy, who was wearing a tight red dress and black high heels looking totally inappropriate as always. He nodded towards a few persons he knew but none of them good enough to start a conversation with. There were three presentations scheduled for today but Alec was only interested in the one about traditional medicine held by Doctor Magnus Bane. His clinic in New York had quite the reputation and was constantly growing. Alec had heard that quite a lot of celebrities spent a fortune getting treated by the doctor himself. Not everyone was pleased by that. His mother said more than once that he was only trying to get money out of the people and that it had nothing to do with real medicine. Alec wanted to get to know more about the topic before he trusted his mother’s opinion. When it went like their mother wished Izzy wouldn't specialize in plastic surgery, and she and Jace would work together with him at the East Riverside Hospital but Izzy and Jace decided to rebel some time ago and now he was the only Lightwood to continue to walk in his parents’ footsteps._

_“Who are you?” Alec heard someone say. He looked around and saw an Asian man surrounded by a group of people stirring a martini with his pinky finger checking the crowd. He looked even more out of place than Izzy. He looked nowhere like an average doctor; nails painted black, a lot of necklaces over a satin dark blue dress shirt, and grey shimmer on his eyelids. Alec wondered why they were serving drinks at the education program. He wasn't a big fan of alcoholic drinks himself so he did not care all too much._

_It was then that he noticed Jace was not by his side anymore. As he let his eyes wander he noticed Jace was talking with a group of girls. Maybe he did not lie about having a thing about nurses. He knew Izzy was dating a nurse at the moment; some guy with long black hair and a thing for yoga and herbal tea, knowing her it would not last long._

_The first two presentations were utterly boring and Alec had a hard time staying awake. Izzy did not even try but rested her head on Alec's shoulders and slept through them. Jace was nowhere to be seen, to no one’s surprise none of the girls he earlier talked to either._

_Then Doctor Magnus Bane entered the stage and Alec noticed that it was the same guy he had seen earlier. The moment he began to speak the audience was captivated. Alec rammed his elbow in Izzy's side to wake her up. He knew she would only be mad at him if he would let her sleep through an experience like this. She looked at him like she wanted to kill him which was nothing new, she looked at him like that thrice a day at least so he only nodded towards the stage and the moment Izzy looked at Magnus' name she was captivated as well. Alec tried to focus on the content of the seminar but ever so often he could only concentrate on Doctor Magnus Bane's hand movements._

_When the presentation ended Alec knew nothing about traditional medicine, but he knew everything about Magnus Bane; from the way he moved his fingers to the way his eyes lit up if he noticed someone was interested in what he did._

_After the presentation ended they went back to the foyer. Izzy, who had apparently also noticed the alcoholic beverages, decided to get them some. Jace was still nowhere to be seen._

_“I hope you liked the presentation?” someone asked and Alec turned around to find Doctor Magnus Bane standing next to him, holding out a glass of champagne towards him._

_“Yes…yes it was really interesting,” he answered, taking the glass and cursing himself for the lame response._

_Up close Alec could get a better look on the grey sparkling eyeshadow covering Mr. Banes almond eyes, his styled hair with streaks coloured the same blue as his dress shirt. Alec knew he was probably staring but it was just so much to take in._

_“What got you to enroll to this seminar, Doctor…?” Mr. Bane asked._

_“Lightwood, Alec Lightwood,” he answered and could see how Mr. Bane recognized the name._

_“Personal interest I suppose,” Alec told him.  
“Do you have any experience in this field?” Mr. Bane asked and it took Alec a moment to realize he was talking about the topic of his presentation: acupuncture._

_“No, none,” Alec told him honestly._

_“Let’s all hope you stay well and healthy but if you're ever in need for treatment give me a call,” Mr. Bane said handing him a business card._

_“From what I heard you take quite a heavy charge for your services,” Alec replied but took the card._

_“That depends on the person my dear. In fact I’ll do you pro bono,” he said with a wink and disappeared into the crowd._

 

08:04pm

Magnus was conflicted what to do next. He had finished work but was still at the clinic. A part of him wanted to return home, have a nice meal, sit on the couch and relax but the other part of him wanted to stay as far away from the place as possible, knowing that Alexander could be there. The whole day his mind had been clouded by the thoughts of how to deal with the situation. He could hardly understand what had actually happened, and as much as he wanted to ask Alexander about it, he also felt deeply betrayed and hoped for Alexander to be the one to reach out to him. So far no message on his phone and no call had indicated that Alexander had any intentions doing so. Magnus had always thought they shared everything with each other. He had even told him things about his childhood he had told no one before and Alexander knew how important values like trust and loyalty were to him. He did not dare to think about losing everything they had built the last two years but it would take a lot to make up for what Alexander had done to him and he knew he was generous by wanting to give Alexander a chance to do so. This morning he had thought about cutting all ties immediately, about getting his stuff and leaving, but then the longing had started and his heart ached thinking about losing the person he loved, and he knew he wasn’t willing to give up even if his heart was broken.

Magnus caught himself staring at his phone again hoping for the screen to light up as he heard footsteps outside of his office. He wondered who it was as he had been the only person left. The only conclusion was that someone must have forgotten something and came back for it. The footsteps came closer and the door to his office burst open. In his mind Magnus already saw Alexander storming in, hair dishevelled begging him to forgive him but reality looked different. The person that came in was the last one he hoped to ever see again, the stranger who had been lying in his bedroom the previous day. He was caring a small girl in his arms, with chocolate skin, hair braided in two pigtails wearing a cute pink dress contrasting the strangers all black attire.

“Please help her, please” he begged, his voice wavering in concern. Magnus wanted nothing more than to throw him out, except maybe punch him and then throw him out, but it was impossible to do when he was asked to help the little girl who he now noticed was unconscious.

“Come with me,” he said and lead them to one of the treating rooms. The stranger put the girl carefully down on the table and stroked her head before making space for Magnus.

“Please save her,” he said and looked at Magnus and Magnus could see the sadness in his eyes. Magnus wanted nothing more than to only feel pure hatred towards this guy but it was pretty hard if he begged him like that to save the little girl. 

“What happened?” Magnus wanted to know as he checked her vital signs and wondered why he would bring her here instead of calling an ambulance. That was when Magnus remembered locking the front door after the last person beside him left so the stranger shouldn’t even got inside in the first place.

“She took something,” the stranger explained.

“What is ‘something’?” Magnus asked while checking the girls breathing.

“It’s called ‘Circle’”, he explained.

“A drug?” Magnus inquired further. He had never heard of a drug with this name before but since he had little to no knowledge about drugs he wasn’t that surprised.

“She should be in a hospital not here,” Magnus said anger towards the stranger flaming up again.

“I know but I couldn’t take her. Please help her. I couldn’t stop it. I should have stopped it,” the stranger rambled nervously running his fingers through his hair. Magnus noticed that he did not seem to be in good shape either. His skin was pale, his breathing way to fast, and seemed to keep his weight only on his left leg.

Magnus shifted his attention towards the girl again. The stranger would survive without him. Magnus had no idea what the effects of the drug were and he had no equipment to pump the girls stomach so there was little he could do. She needed to get to a hospital and that sooner than later.

“I need to call an ambulance,” Magnus told him and thought about calling the police as well.  
“Will she live?” the stranger asked but Magnus ignored him and went back into his office to call for an ambulance. As he went back the stranger was nowhere to be found. Magnus did not even try to comprehend what was happening but concentrated to make sure he could do as much for the girl as he could until the medical service arrived. He wanted to accompany the girl to the hospital but they wouldn’t take him. They told him to wait for the police to tell them what happened so the only thing he could do was go back inside to wait and try not to overthink what had just happened while doing so.

When he went back to his office he noticed someone had scribbled something on the top card lying on his table. It was a phone number and it hadn’t been there before the stranger had arrived. He grabbed his phone and dialled the number. To his surprise it was a contact he had already saved, because the name Luke Garroway appeared above the number. Magnus wondered just when the butterfly had started to move his wings to lead to this situation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon had done everything to make this night perfect, to make it his night. He wanted to show everyone that he could make it one his own, to spread his music to the world, or at least to the people visiting the Hunters Moon and it had all gone perfectly until some blond guy had to ruin it by starting a bar fight.

08:38 pm

 

Of all the places Magnus wanted to take a look inside – the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza, the Archives of the Vatican – the interior of an interrogation room was way down on his list. Considering this fact and the fact that he still had to wait for an interrogation to even start his mood had hit rock bottom by now. He hadn’t even done anything against the law, so he had no idea why he had to wait here in this highly uncomfortable room sitting on this highly uncomfortable chair. And worst of it all, he had nothing to do besides thinking, and no matter what he tried to think of, all his trains of thoughts lead towards Alexander. After all that happened, he did not want to be concerned about him – he did not deserve such an emotion – but he could not help it.

The door behind him opened. It made a harsh sound as Luke Garroway closed it behind him. He was dressed as always in dark blue Jeans and a dark shirt. His brown leather jacket was absent.

“Magnus,” he said, his tone warm and welcome and unfitting in this surrounding.

“Luke”, Magnus said in fake surprise. Magnus had waited long enough and wanted to make sure Luke knew how displeased he was by it. Luke ignored it and took a seat opposite of Magnus.

“Could you please tell me what happened before you called me?” Luke asked in his polite and calm manner, like he was talking to a child who had stolen a cookie out of the cookie jar. Magnus was having none of that. He knew Luke was trying to get on Magnus good side. He probably thought he had to make something up to Magnus because he had helped his daughter Clary to certain fame. The truth was Magnus had uploaded a picture of Clary’s paining on his Instagram because he liked it and he appreciated good artwork. For him there was no favour to make up for but because of the situation he let things proceed.

“I would love to, but it seems these dull grey walls have sucked all the motivation out of my body,” he said instead pointing at the wall to his right while his eyes stayed focused on Luke. There was accuracy to it; the room made him feel uneasy. Magnus did not like confined places and even with Luke in this room he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time, the feeling of being alone.

“All you have to do is answer a few questions, then I will take you home and you’ll never have to see the inside of this room again,” Luke explained. Magnus noticed that while Luke appeared to be calm and relaxed, something inside him was not. He did not give the impression of being nervous, more of being extremely focused.

“Your offer does seem appealing, but before I take it I would like to know why I have been brought here when I did nothing against the law,” Magnus said.

“The girl that was taken to the hospital had a drug in her system that is new on the market and responsible for the death of sixteen people in the last month, nine of them underaged. I’m not implying you had something to do with it, but the circumstances are a bit peculiar,” Luke explained.

“If you already know I had nothing to do with it, what is it that you what to know?” Magnus asked.

“The man, the one that you described as ‘blond stranger with awful hairstyle’, have you seen him before?” Luke asked.

Magnus knew he should have seen this question coming, but he did not and know he had only a split second to decide. A split second to choose if he should keep Alexander’s involvement a secret or spill the truth. He had no trouble lying to the police, he had no trouble lying to Luke, but after what Alexander had done, he asked himself if he was worth it, if he should feed him to the wolves or if he should protect him after all.

“No, I have never seen him before,” he finally answered and part of him knew it had been the right thing to do.

 

06:56 pm

 

Alec knew he had screwed up. There was nothing to deny there. He had to admit to himself that he had acted without thinking things through and now he had to pay the price for it. Even worse Magnus had to pay for it, too.

At the beginning of their relationship Alec had been scared to make mistakes, to take things too fast or too slow and Magnus had always been there to reassure him, telling him they would work things out, telling him they could handle whatever would come. Alec couldn’t believe he had thrown all this away in a moment. Magnus had meant they could handle whatever would come, if they trusted each other, if they were truthful to each other, and not telling him what was going on was not much better than bluntly lying. He saw that now. Too bad he hadn’t seen it then.

He tried to call him again and again, but Magnus wasn’t answering his phone. When he had almost reached Izzy’s apartment he tried it one last time. By now he had every last word and variation in Magnus voice memorized.

“You look awful,” Izzy greeted him.

“Nice to see you too, Iz,” he replied.

“How was work?” Izzy asked. He knew she was avoiding the topic of Magnus because they had talked it through already and there was nothing more to say about it until he hadn’t explained things to Magnus himself.

“Have you heard about this new drug? I talked to some working in ER and they lost a few patients already,” Alec told her while making himself comfortable on Izzy’s couch. He put his phone on the table beside him and stared at the black screen for a while

“No, hearing it for the first time,” Izzy answered and sat down beside him.

“Apparently it makes one feel invincible,” Alec explained further.

“Do you think that was what Jace took?” Izzy asked him.

“I don’t know, but it’s possible,” Alec said. His phone started buzzing and his heart skipped a beat but when he checked it he saw that it was only a notification that his battery was low, unsurprising considering he had looked at his phone every five minutes the whole day long.

“Feeling invincible, I don’t think you would even notice a difference with Jace,” Izzy replied.

“Izzy!” Alec shouted, but he saw that Izzy looked as scared for their brother as he felt. Ever since Jace disappeared it was like a piece of a puzzle was missing. From the time his parents had adopted Jace it had always been the three of them together, Max being a bit too young to join most of the times. Things with Jace had never been easy, he had learned how to be a big brother with Jace’s arrival but now he wasn’t even there to talk him out of his reckless behaviour and between worrying about Jace and longing for Magnus he had barely time to think about anything else. Visiting his sister had eased his mind. She was the only person who knew what he was going through.

“He will come back,” Izzy said as if she knew what he was thinking. Her hand rested on his shoulder giving him the comfort he sought.

“Who?” He asked.

“Both of them,” Izzy answered him and stated grinning.

“What?” He wanted to know what mischievous thing his sister was thinking about.

“Jace and Magnus, they won’t stand each other. Careful what you wish for big brother, your real problems are going to start if they both return.”

He had never given it any thought but know that he thought about it, he could not picture Magnus and Jace as best friends, but neither could he picture Raphael and Jace. His brother wasn’t known to make friendships easily so maybe he was overthinking.

“Oh crap! I have to get ready,” Izzy said and jumped up from the couch, ripping him from his train of thoughts and nearly giving him a heart attack.

“Heading out?” Alec asked.

“I promised Simon to root for him at his debut in the Hunters Moon,” Izzy explained on her way to the bathroom.

“He hasn’t given up yet?” Alec inquired. He had heard two or three concerts of Simon’s band and even though they were not as bad as he had expected he highly doubted they would get very far.

“Simon, never,” Izzy half shouted out of the bathroom, “Do you want to go with me?”

“No thanks,” Alec said, “I’m going home.”

He was not in the mood for partying and he was even less in the mood to listen to Simon’s rambling all evening. Furthermore, it would take Izzy at least half an hour before she even had decided what to wear. Alec thought if there was even the slightest chance that Magnus could come back home, he should be there instead. He tried calling him, but reached the voice mail again. There was nothing else to do than walk back home to an empty apartment.

 

09:00 pm

 

Simon was late. His gig should have begun exactly two seconds ago and he was still not ready with the setup. He did his best to convince himself that every rock band started late and no one expected him to be on time, but it was hard considering he was not actually a rock star and most of the crowd was staring at him. His hands were shaking as he connected yet another cable and tried his best not to stumble over any of them and make a fool of himself before his show had even started.

He looked up and searched for familiar faces. He found Clary who was smiling and kept her fingers crossed for him. Then he noticed a police car stopping outside, a moment later a man entered the Hunters Moon. His black hair was spiked and he was wearing a long military style coat with golden studs. He remembered the way Clary had described Magnus Bane to him and the resemblance was shocking. A shiver was running down Simon’s back. If this was Magnus Bane, the doc that made Clary’s paintings famous, he was screwed. Clary had described him as someone who knew half of New York and if he told half of New York that his music was awful, he would lose his fame before he even got famous. He pulled his gaze away from Magnus - what wasn’t easy, something about this man made one want to stare at him - and looked back to Clary, who signed him with her hands to hurry up and begin.

“This is Rock Solid Panda, well it’s only me, Lewis, Simon Lewis. Thank you all for coming tonight. This is my first song Royal Blue,” he told his audience. He saw Clary clapping and cheering for him, the rest of the bar reacted rather guarded.

He began to play and with every note his nervousness disappeared and he started to enjoy himself. He saw Clary swaying along to the music and he saw strangers slightly nodding their head to the beat. The mood in the bar started to change and it filled him with pride after all the band practices that had let nowhere to finally stand on stage, even if it was just a small bar and Clary had helped a lot to make it happen. As the song faded out a lot more where clapping and cheering for him and Simon couldn’t stop smiling. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he had put a lot of work to make this night perfect, to make it his night, maybe the start of a real career in music and he appreciated everyone who liked his performance.

He started his next song with a more positive mindset and he noticed the people were more actively listening to his music, even Magnus Bane - if he even was Magnus Bane - did not seem displeased as he was watching while swirling a Martini in his hand. When the song ended he noticed Clary was trying to get his attention. She was symbolling him if he wanted to get something to drink. Simon just shook his hand. He couldn’t tolerate alcohol pretty well and he was afraid he would make any mistakes as it was.

“This next song is called Fragile World,” he announced and continued playing. Somewhere halfway to the song a group of people entered. They were all dressed in black leather jackets, talking loudly to each other, disrupting the mood. Simon thought they were probably coming from another bar and were already drunk. One of them stood out in particular, with gold blond hair and tattooed neck. The others seemed to surround him like a swarm. They were heading directly towards the bar where Clary was sitting. Simon almost forgot to sing his next line, trying his hardest to concentrate on the song he had written not too long ago and keeping an eye on Clary.

The blond guy sat down directly next to Clary and started to talk to her. One of them kept close to the blond guy, but the others started to fan out. It got quiet again and he hoped the new arrivals would just sit down and enjoy his music like the rest of the audience. The awareness of the crowd started to get back to Simon and he ended the song receiving pleased smiles and some clapping.

Simon considered for a moment if he should take a brake and go and save Clary, but decided against it. She had taken a lot of effort to make this evening possible and Clary would give him some kind of sign if she was feeling uncomfortable; at least Simon hoped she would.

For the next song Simon switched from keyboard to his guitar. It was an old song that he had written ages ago and rewritten almost a hundred times, but now he had finally declared it perfect and was fond of the result. He began singing when a commotion started at the bar. First it was just arguing and shouting that drowned out Simon’s voice. Then someone grabbed the blond guy’s jacket, who pushed him away. The leather jacket crew came to his rescue, but the other guy had some friends too. Simon had no idea who had thrown the first punch but suddenly fists were flying, people were screaming, and Simon stood and stared, his guitar abandoned.

When the leather jacket crew got thrown out of the bar, half of the people who were there decided to go as well and a bit after that it seemed only Clary, Magnus Bane, and the bartender were listening to him. The fight had only lasted for a minute. One guy punching the other, the other one punching back and then they had dragged them away before anything further could happen. It was, however, enough to get everyone’s attention. Simon knew the only thing the people who left the bar would talk about is that they witnessed a bar fight. No one would remember the nerdy guy on stage playing his songs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus knew if he did not hear an explanation that would lead to forgiveness and he had not even the slightest idea what kind of explanation would, the conversation would be followed by a breakup. They say the first steps were the hardest, but the closer he came towards the elevator, the harder they became.

5:17 pm

“Lightwood, Lightwood? You’re not even halfway through your shift and you’re already spacing out. No matter what is going on with you on a personal level I expect a more serious attitude at work,” Alaric shouted. His face displaced more anger than he was verbally allowed to express. The name ‘Lightwood’ still held weight in this hospital. You couldn’t just curse at the director’s son. 

“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well,” Alec answered. Emotional pain was as much a discomfort as physical pain, so no lie was being told there. He doubted he would make it through the shift. He was no stranger to working hours for hours with any sleep, barely any break and on the verge of breaking down, it was almost part of the job description, but at least his mind was where it should be. Today though, it was entirely somewhere else and he could not arrange it with his conscience that someone’s life might be in danger because he just could not concentrate. 

Alec walked away from Alaric and called Lydia. If there was one person to fill in for him on short notice it would be her. 

“Hi Alec,” she answered. Her voice business-like as always.

“Can you come fill in for me,” he asked her straight.

“Again?” she asked back sounding displeased now. He could not blame her for that. It was already the third time in a row. 

“I’m sorry. I’m trying to handle things, but I really need to go right now,” he told her. 

“You’ll never become chief surgeon if you continue like this and everybody in this hospital needs you to become chief surgeon,” she said and every word she said was true. He really wanted to become chief surgeon. He had worked hard to be considered for the position and if he made it he would be on an even position with Alaric. Someone needed to contain the nonsense he was asking of the nurses and the interns.

“I know. You are absolutely right, but I need this day of. I’ll be back tomorrow and then no more excuses,” Alec said and hoped he could hold his promise.

“Give me ten minutes,” she told him.

“Thank you,” he answered.

“You owe me, Alec,” she said and hung up. 

Some twenty minutes later Alec found himself in front of Catarina Loss apartment. He knew Magnus had his day off today and since hadn’t come home he was probably staying at her place. In the moment though nobody was there or at least nobody answered the door. Since calling Magnus had not helped and he had only left a dozen messages on his mailbox, he needed to see him personally. 

He sat down on the floor next to the door with his back to the wall and waited for someone to return home. He knew he must look quite pathetic with his hair even more dishevelled then usually, he hadn’t even tried to do something with it this morning, sitting there on the floor, but he didn’t care and Alec could be patent if the situation required for it.

Before he had met Magnus he would have stood by the door, no expression on his face, arms crossed behind his back. Magnus had changed him. Had shown him that it wasn’t necessary a bad thing to let emotions show, to act like you felt and until now it had always been a good thing. Howeve,r today he could barely contain his emotions and his thoughts were running wild. He wanted to see Magnus and he wanted to return to how thing were before, but even if Magnus would not forgive him, he did not want to end it like this. It had taken them a while to open up towards each other. To tell each other about their past, even if Alec had withheld a big part of it, so he wanted to at least talk to him. He wanted to let him know how truly sorry he was and that he understood the way Magnus was behaving. 

He heard the clicking of boots on the floor and stood up. Magnus was walking towards him, his eyes coloured boldly wearing a jacket Alec had never seen before. It was a dark green brocade with silver studs. He looked stunning in it. Alec approached him carefully. He had played the conversation over and over in his head, but now he was at a loss of words.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. Not the most creative of starts, but it was the most important to say right now. He had expected some sneaky remark, some dismissive snort, but of all the things expected Magnus kept quiet. Alec noticed that Magnus wasn’t ready to talk yet and it was probably for the best not to force it upon him, so Alec decided to give him a choice.

“I want to apologize to you, but this might not be the best time and place. I’ll be at the rooftop tonight at eight. If you want to talk I will be waiting. I’m going to explain everything and I don’t expect you to forgive me after that, but I want you to know what happened and I want you to know how sorry I am,” he said to him and went away. He could no longer stay there, see the hurt in Magnus eyes and not be able to do anything about it. If Magnus was ready for the truth, he would come and that was the best thing Alec could hope for at the moment. 

 

7:23 pm

 

It was hardly surprising that Simon had forgotten something back in the bar after his gig, but it was sure annoying that Clary went there for the third time this day because Simon had yet again remembered that he had forgotten another thing. She only went because she had a day of and she had nothing better to do except finishing a painting, but inspiration was nowhere to be seen today. 

The Hunters Moon was now slightly crowded. The first time she had been here today it had been almost empty. Simon had texted her that some cable was missing. She wasn’t even sure if she would find it here or if Simon had lost it on the way home yesterday and she had no intend to search for it. Instead, she went straight to the bar. The barkeeper that she had talked to earlier on was not there, but the girl with the short curly hair she had seen during Simons gig. 

“Hi, my friend Simon has played yesterday and he is missing a cable, do you know if someone might have found it?” Clary asked. 

“Yes, I remember you,” the barkeeper said a smile on her lips. 

“No idea about the cable though. I will look in the back; maybe one of the staff has found it. Do you want something to drink while you wait?” she asked Clary.

“No, thank you, I’m fine,” Clary answered. The girl disappeared to a door and came back just a moment later with a black cable in her hand.

“This one?” she asked.

“No clue,” Clary answered and shook her head.

“Mind if I take a picture of it and ask my friend? I will not come back here again,” Clay told her.

“That bad, huh,” the barkeeper replied and drew a beer that someone had ordered.

“No, no that’s not what I meant. I’ll gladly come back for a drink, but not to fetch some forgotten equipment. Yet again,” Clary tried to explain herself. All in all it had been fun yesterday even if those guys had made trouble. Simon saw it differently, but in der opinion he was exaggerating. 

“It’s good you came though, I wanted to talk to you anyway. You should be more careful with your drinks. The staff is trying to look out but on a busy day like yesterday it’s not that easy,” the girl told her and proceeded to draw another beer. 

“What do you mean?” Clary asked her. 

“Someone wanted to spike your drink yesterday. I saw it and wanted to say something, but then this one guy, blond, leather jacket spilled your drink all over him. He said it was just a mistake, that it was crowded and he was being pushed, but he clearly saw what was going on and wanted stop it. No idea what was going on that evening, but suddenly the guy’s friends were getting involved and before anyone could stop them, fists were flying,” she explained to her.

“You mean those tattooed guys in leather jackets were making a scene because someone tried to spike drinks?” Clary asked her again.

“I don’t think all of them knew what was going on, but it was clearly the blond guy’s intention. I phoned a friend of mine, who is a detective and he came right away, but since we have no surveillance here and they made a run for it right after the fight I don’t think it will do much good. So you have to be more careful next time,” she told her.

“Yes, thanks for telling me,” Clary said and felt slightly sick, thoughts running through her head how different this night could have ended. She wanted a drink now and at the same time she had no idea if she would ever be able to drink something at a bar ever again. 

 

7:18 pm

 

Maybe it was a sign just how important Alexander was to him that he indeed left Catarina’s apartment and even got a cab instead of walking. It would have been a short walk, but he had the feeling that his feed might stop along the way and he would never make it there. He would be early. The cab driver was speeding thoughtlessly. Knowing Alexander it would not matter. Alexander was someone who thought little of tardiness and was probably already waiting for him. When he had met Alexander earlier today he had not wanted to talk to him. He had dismissed it right away. But then he thought about how bad it was to assume thinks you did not know of and he deemed himself a better man than that. As Alexander had said talking would not mean forgiveness, but Alexander needed a chance to explain himself and he would listen to what he had to say and then decide if forgiveness could be considered.

Magnus was not opposed to forgiveness. His friend Ragnor Fell had taught him to forgive. If Ragnor hadn’t forgiven Magnus Bane again and again as he had made one stupid mistake after another in his youth the two of them would now be enemies instead of friends. 

Before he and Alexander had moved together, Alexander had insisted on the apartment with the access to the rooftop. When Alexander was troubled and needed to think Magnus would always find him there starting at the city wind brushing to his hair. When Magnus had asked him why it was one of his favorite places to think, he had told him he couldn’t explain the reason and Magnus had assumed he could not express the feeling he had on rooftops that it was calming him in a way he could not explain. Now he questioned if it was true. Maybe there was something he had not wanted to talk about. 

The oriental sound the cab driver was listening to where now being mixed with colourfull cursing as the driver was cutting lines. Magnus had not said anything about getting there the fastest way possible and he did want to get there alive, so he considered saying something, but noticed then that he was almost there. He would hopefully survive the next two minutes and would definitely walk the way home. 

He thanked the driver, payed him with a tip that was quite generous for the way he had driven and looked up to the building top. Of course it was impossible to see if someone was standing there.

It was hard to take the steps towards the door. He knew if he did not hear an explanation that would lead to forgiveness and he had not even the slightest idea what kind of explanation would, the conversation would be followed by a breakup. They say the first steps were the hardest, but the closer he came towards the elevator, the harder they became. 

He thought about his last breakup which was filled with a lot of hatred on both sides, this one would be without hatred but a lot of disappointment and tears, this one would be a lot harder. He arrived at the top floor and went towards the steps that led to the rooftop. 

As expected Alec was already there. The problem was he wasn’t alone. Alec had told him he wanted to explain the situation, but Magnus could only wonder what was to explain when he found him starring into the blond man’s teary eyes and then embracing him in a tight hug, his head resting on Alec’s broad shoulders.  
Magnus wanted to turn around before either of the two noticed he was even there, but the same moment the stranger started to talk.

“It is all my fault. I tried to save them, Alec. But I…they all died because of me. I killed them, Alec. I killed them,” he said, his voice broken. Alec said nothing but petted the man’s hair in a comforting manner. 

It was time to go. They would have their talk, but not here and not now. He could barely understand how he could have trusted someone who was leaving him for a murder.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke Garroway had to deal with a lot of difficult situations in his line of work, but listening to Simon’s rambling about a blond guy that had destroyed his debut night was another level of difficult, especially considering he had it all wrong.

04:24 pm

Misery loves company that was probably the reason Magnus was now in Raphael’s apartment a martini glass in one hand, the other one stirring the toothpick in skillful motion. Raphael took a slip of his red wine, a fine Spanish Reserva that he had bought for an evening with Isabelle some days ago. It had a rich taste, full of berries and pine. Isabelle would have liked it. None of them cared that it was early evening. 

“I should be working right now. Garroway will kill me”, he told Magnus.  
“Garroway? Do you work with him?” Magnus asked.

“Do you know the detective?” asked back.

“I got to know him when he was just a police officer and I was just a teen doing stupid things”, Magnus said, leaned back and took a slip of his drink, all of it in a graceful motion. 

Raphael thought back to the time he got to know Magnus. He was freshly out of university a degree in his hand, but nothing more. He had been struggling to find a job, with no work experience. While other students had done some internships during their studies all he had on his resume were part time jobs as a waiter, a salesperson, a delivery boy and even a gardener. Magnus on the other hand had a running clinic and a lot of trouble on his hand. It was a mere coincidence that brought them together, but they had helped each other out ever since. Today however there was no way to help each other, when they were sitting in the same boat. 

“He is building a case against Valentine Morgenstern”, Raphael explained. 

“Morgenstern, huh.” Everyone had heard of the name some ten years ago. It had been all over the news. The police had been able to smash a huge drug ring, but been unable to arrest the man behind it. Even after a manhunt with perceived every police officer involved Valentine Morgenstern stayed unfound.

“They have found him? Why haven’t heard a thing of it. I can’t have been that preoccupied,” Magnus said. 

“It’s because they have no clue where he is, but apparently they know someone who does,” Raphael explained. 

“That’s vague.”

“I might be digging my own grave here, but I own Garroway and if it plays out, I can gain a lot, too,” Raphael told him. This could be the case that would change his career. Being a prosecutor now, it was even harder to get to the top and fight for more than fighting against piles of documents. 

“This informant, how much trust does the detective have in this source?” Magnus asked.

“It’s an undercover cop and apparently he worked undercover for some time now and he is in deep,” Raphael confided in him. They were talking about sensitive information now. It was not usual for Raphael to share such information with Magnus that easily and he could only wonder what Raphael thought gaining of it. 

“Word is they want to bring a new drug on the market and Garroway wants to arrest Valentine before this happens,” Raphael continued. 

“And you are telling me this because…?” Magnus asked him. 

“Garroway is on edge these days, something has happened. I don’t know much, but from what I have gathered, the drug is messed up. People are dying, “Raphael told him. 

“You want to know if I know something about it,” Magnus stated.

“You know half of Brooklyn and half of Brooklyn knows you. Who else should I ask?” Raphael questioned.

“So you don’t inquire the information because I am a doctor, but because I tend to gossip,” Magnus said.

“Don’t you?” Raphael asked.

“If you continue like this, you might not get to know anything,” Magnus said displeased.

Raphael leaned back and took a deep slip of his wine.  
“Then you might not get any information either my friend,” Raphael replied.

“I was busy dealing with a break up,” Magnus said his thoughts immediately returning to Alexander. 

“So nothing strange happened?” Raphael asked him. Denying this would be a lie. A lot of things happened, a lot of strange things happened and all involved a stranger that appeared and caused trouble. He had been so occupied thinking about Alexander that he hadn’t really thought about the other guy. He thought back to the time he had appeared at his clinic, the unconscious little girl in his hands, begging him to save her. Then he thought back to the time were he had first seen him in there apartment, bruised and sleeping and suddenly things started to become more than just coincidences. 

“Since when is this new drug circulating?” Magnus asked.

“As far as I know only a few days ago. Apparently this cop got involved somehow. He wanted to make it less potent and he did exactly the opposite,” Raphael answered. 

Words were ringing in Magnus had. _It is all my fault. I tried to save them, Alec. But I…they all died because of me_.This was not a coincidence any longer. Magnus finally knew what was going on, know he only needed to confirm it. Before he would confront Alexander about it, there was one more person he needed to speak with. 

“I have to go,” he told Raphael, drained his drink and stood up. 

“Now you are leaving too. Dios, what is going on with everybody,” Raphael complained, but Magnus was already closing the door behind him. 

 

05:03 pm

“It was the worst night of my life,” Simon declared.

“The last time we spoke, the worst night was the night you kissed a girl named Heidi,” Luke remembered him.

“It was definitely worse. Well, if I think it through, maybe it wasn’t worse, but it was definitely bad. No bad isn’t enough. It was horrendous. It was going so well. People were actually listening, not only Clary and Maia and Rebecca, but total strangers. And I didn’t even make this many mistakes. I practised really hard the days before and then it was suddenly all over,” Simon said. They were sitting in a dinner Simon had a giant burger in front of him that he hadn’t touched yet because rambling about his life seemed more important right now. Luke had no idea when he had become some kind of father figure to Simon. It just gradually happened somehow. He had always been Clary’s best friend and with becoming a father figure to Clary he at some point in his life also became one to Simon. He didn’t mind. He liked Simon. He was a good person, a great friend for Clary and someone who one became easily attached to, but today it was hard to keep his mind on this conversation. 

“This blond dude just came in, started a fight and disappeared. Can you believe that?!” Simon went on. He wanted to console Simon. The kid had told him over and over again how important this night was for him. That he wanted to upload his songs on the internet the morning after his debut night and that this would hopefully be the start of his music career. Luke had heard some of Simon’s music and even if it wasn’t a genre that he normally listens to, he could still see that Simon was indeed talented and that a chance of living from his music was certainly there. Today though, his thoughts were focused on Jace. It was not that Simon’s problems were not important. Everyone had to deal with different stuff in their life and Simon wasn’t wrong, but in contrary to Jace problems, Simon’s life was in no danger. Jace’s life in the contrary was hanging on a thread and Luke had a hard time to think of anything but that. And Simon, once he had started to ramble about his problems just couldn’t’ stop. Luke Garroway had to deal with a lot of difficult situations in his line of work, but listening to Simon’s rambling about a blond guy that had destroyed his debut night was another level of difficult, especially considering he had it all wrong.

“Detective,” a voice interrupted them. He turned towards him and noticed Magnus Bane was standing at his table. 

He had been half in his thoughts half listening to Simons rambling that he hadn’t even noticed the man entering the diner. As a detective he should be able to pay more attention to his surrounding, but it seemed he was reaching a limit today. 

“Detective Garroway, I demand an explanation,” Magnus said with a voice that could only describe as determined. He had no idea who Magnus knew he was here. If he had met Simon at the Jade Wolf it would be less surprising, he could be often found there after work. Simon, though, did not want to go to the Jade Wolf anymore because he had some stupid misconception that all the other clients did not like him and he was an unwelcomed guessed. Luke had no idea what that was about, but considered it a problem for another day. 

“What do you want an explanation about?” Luke wanted to know. 

“My temper is hanging on a threat right now, detective. I’m in no mood for games,” Magnus answered and took a seat on the table. 

“Lewis. Simon Lewis,” Simon introduced himself.

“Doctor Magus Bane, now if you would be so kind Sheldon, I have some business to discuss with the Detective,” Magnus explained and made a gesture towards the door, indicating that Simon should make himself scarce. Of course Simon did not get the hint. 

“Simon, I’m really sorry, but what Doctor Bane and I have to discuss is work related and we have to talk in private. Magnus if you would be so kind as to follow me to the district. We should talk about those matters in a more private environment,” Luke said and waved towards the waitress. He paid for both of their meals and left a confused and slightly hurt Simon behind. He would have to make amends for that later, or Clary would be furious, but all in due time. 

The district was felt strangely quiet for what was about to happen. The guys from narcotics were busy, but they were all either out on the street or worked much fuss. It felt like the calm before the storm. Magnus hadn’t said another word on the way here. Both of them had their unspoken questions running in their minds. 

Luke pointed at a chair at his desk to ask Magnus to take a seat, while he sat down behind his desk. Now was the time to talk and it felt right to let Magnus have the word first, even if it was normally him who asked the questions. 

“You have a cop inside the circle of Valentine Morgenstern”, Magnus started. It wasn’t even a question. It was just a statement that needed confirmation. Luke should deny it, but he didn’t. 

“That’s correct”, he answers Magnus. What good would it do, if he lied to him now, when he had already found out from someone who knew the truth? It was far more important to get to know who it was that leaked information. 

“And things are not going according to plan”, Magnus continued. 

“Things are never going according to plan when Valentine Morgenstern is involved”, Luke answered him. 

“And now you are planning to get the cop out of the mess you created”, Magnus proceeded. 

“No, we are not”, Luke said.

Magnus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to that. He personally would have ended the mission long ago, but even if he gave Jace the chance to go out, he knew he would never take it. 

He waited a moment if Magnus had further questions, but he kept quiet. It seemed he had nothing further to ask, or better nothing Magnus thought Luke could answer. Luke was under the impression that Magnus was not yet satisfied in this curiosity. Now it was Luke’s time to ask. 

“Why the interest?” Luke started. 

“I just got this information by chance and wanted to confirm it”, Magnus downplayed it. 

“So no personal reason in your interest?” It felt more like an interrogation than a talk with a friend now. Luke could not help it. Magnus was sticking his head in things, that he should not know about and even if Luke trusted Magnus to a degree, he at least needed the reason for his interest. 

“Oh, but the reason is very personal”. 

“What need do you have for the Information about Valentine Morgenstern? “asked Luke 

A slight laugh escaped Magnus. 

“Who said it was the information about Valentine that I needed?” Magnus inquired.

“You are interested in Lightwood?” Luke wanted to know and witnessed the confidence fade from Magnus expression. 

“How is Alexander involved in it?”

“Who is Alexander?”

Something in both of their story did not match up. Maybe Jace had used another name as he had met Magnus. He did not see the reason for it, but he had no other idea what else. 

“You just asked about Alexander Lightwood and know you don’t know him?” he could notice in the way Magnus asked that he thought Luke was playing around with him

“I asked about Jonathan Christopher Lightwood”, Luke corrected him

“Another Lightwood then? The cop is a Lightwood?” Magnus asked surprised. His expression was unreadable. At first he thought that he looked relieved, the next moment he seemed angry. 

“Yes and no. It’s not my place to tell you his family history and for the sake of withholding at least a bit of information I won’t.” 

“I have all the information I need right now. There is someone else, whom I need to hear the rest from anyway.” 

Luke had no doubt that Alexander Lightwood was this person. Now he finally had the puzzle solved, too. Alexander was one of the Lightwood siblings. For a detective it had taken him long enough. Maybe he should think about retirement. A nice cabin in the woods and some peace and quiet sounded nice. 

“I hope it’s not too much to ask of you to talk about no one else except Alexander Lightwood about the things you should not know about”, Luke said trying to make his voice sound hard even though he highly doubted Magnus could be intimidated by him. He doubted Magnus could be intimidated by hardly anyone. There was something about him that made him seem almost indestructible. 

“I don’t think there will be reason for it“, Magnus told him. 

“That’s not a yes.”

“No it’s not”, he said and left the district. There was nothing Luke could do to stop him. Things were spiraling out of hand again. It was something about Valentine Morgenstern; he caused disturbances everywhere, even with people he was not involved with. He was just hoping Magnus would know stay out of trouble while at the same time he had the strong feeling the man would do exactly the opposite. 

 

05:43 pm

Magnus was only a block away from their apartment as it started to rain. Not a heavy rain, just a slight drizzle. He started to speed up to get out of this uncomfortable cold and of this uncomfortable uncertainty. He needed to talk to Alexander. All the information he gathered did not change the fact that he did not know where they stood. There had been no break up; there had been no reconciliation just hasty actions without explanation. The knowledge of what had been going on changed Magnus view on Alexander’s behavior to an extent. The blond stranger was Alexander’s brother, he was his family and Magnus already knew how important family was to him. It was something Magnus liked Alexander for and he could understand that Alexander wanted to protect his family. If Alexander stood up for something, if something was important to him, then he would go beyond reason for it. Magnus who had grown up alone considered his closest friend family and there would be nothing he would not do for them. It was something he could understand, his head told him it was reasonable, but he heart still felt betrayed. 

Just how different things had been if Alexander had just confided in him. He would have helped him, he would have helped his brother and his secret would have been safe with him. Instead, he walked around asking questions. And he wasn’t done. He increased his step as he saw Alexander leaving the front door. 

“Alexander”, he shouted. He saw him turning around and freezing. It was obvious he hadn’t expected to see Magnus. Maybe he had even expected never to see him again. For Alexander Magnus had never appeared on the rooftop. 

“Magnus”, he said as he walked towards him. All his longing was resonating in a single word. 

“Now it’s time to talk”, Magnus told him because strangely he did not really know how else to start. 

I’m sorry Magnus, I’m really sorry. I did wrong. I’m going to tell you all I know. It was wrong not to talk to you. I trust you Magnus. It was a mistake not trusting you for a second, but I don’t trust anyone else,” Alexander said and took him by the arm back towards the entrance while frantically looking right and left and Magnus had to admit he had never seen Alexander this scared. 

They walked around the corner towards a small alleyway. He did not understand why they did not go inside the apartment, but it was not what was important right now so he let it slip. 

“The man you saw…”, Alexander started.

“Is your brother”, Magnus interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. He saw Alexander’s eyes widen with fear. 

“How do you know?” Alexander wanted to know. 

“People told me bits and pieces and I connected the dots”, Magnus answered him. What had happened in detail would have to wait for another day. 

“You shouldn’t know”, Alexander told him shaking his head. Magnus knew this look on him, he knew when Alexander was worrying about something and now he was worrying for his brother. 

“You were just about to tell me, so that’s not quite right” Magnus corrected him. 

“What else do you know?” Alexander asked him. 

“It is not me who should talk right now”, Magnus said instead of answering. They would get nowhere if it was Magnus that was telling Alexander what had happened. He needed to hear it from him. 

“I know. I’m sorry for what happened, but I had to help him. I should have told you on the spot when everything happened, maybe even before everything happened and then things started to get out of hand. I can’t change what I did, but I don’t want to lose you.” Alexander told him. 

The drizzle had changed into a shower. Magnus felt the water his soaking his all but waterproof jacket. Alexander’s fluffy hair was now sticking to his forehead. A part of Magnus wanted to comb it back with his fingers, the other part wanted to keep his distance. 

“Magnus, please. I can’t live without you.” 

His head and his heart had now switched places. Is heart was telling him to take a step forward and embrace Alexander in a tight hug and his head was the one to tell him to be careful and think things through for once. Magnus had made enough mistakes in his life; to take things lightly, to rush into things. He had been played with and he had been hurt and he was afraid that it would happen all over again and nonetheless his feet made a step forward and his arms embraced Alexander’s body.  
He could feel Alexander returning the hug pulling him closer. It was only now that Magnus realized how much he had longed for this hug, how much he had longed for Alexander. He was not ready to let go. He did not know where their relationship stood, but his was not the end. It just couldn’t be. And he was not the only one not ready to let go. They stood like this, the rain falling down on them just holding each other. 

They would have stood there longer, if it wasn’t for Alexander’s phone that had started to ring. They each took a step back, but still stood close to each other. Magnus saw the hesitation in Alexander’s expression and indicated with a hand movement to take the call. Alexander fumbled his phone out of his pocked and swiped the screen to answer. Magnus was close enough to hear the first word the person on the other end was saying. 

_“Help.”_


End file.
